Curling nationals reunion of sorts for Marcus Gleaton

Brett Beier | Special to the Kalamazoo GazetteCathrine Davis, left, and Tom Davis, right, sweep the ice for the stone that was thrown by Marcus Gleaton, center, during a recent Kalamazoo Curling Club league competition. All three players hail from Three Rivers.KALAMAZOO — Marcus Gleaton reacted with the glee of a child two years ago when he read in the paper that Kalamazoo was getting its own curling club.

Having been immersed in the sport as a kid growing up in St. Paul, Minn., by parents who played about five nights a week, Gleaton hadn’t curled since his family moved to Michigan in 1984.

“I just jumped out of my chair and called all my family — every single one of them,” he said. Gleaton joined the Kalamazoo Curling Club, and along with his mother, Patsy, and three siblings, was able to get back in touch with his curling roots.

Marcus GleatonThis week, it’s gone a step further as several of the curlers he grew up playing with and against at the St. Paul Curling Club are in town for the 2010 USA Curling Nationals, which run through next Saturday at Wings Stadium.

“We were all just kids and had a blast,” he said. “Saturday mornings, there was nothing more fun. We all looked forward to it. As a kid, there are certain things your parents have you do and you don’t really like, and that was not the case there. It was like a big family.”

One player in particular that Gleaton remembers is John Benton, now a member of the U.S. men’s Olympic team that recently competed in the Vancouver Games.

Gleaton, volunteering as an official for nationals, bumped into Benton Saturday before competition kicked off.

“I didn’t even know if he’d even remember me, but he said, ‘Oh, absolutely,’ and we immediately started talking about the good old days,” Gleaton said. “It’s a hotbed of curling, so there are a number of athletes who continued on after we moved away.”

Benton may be the most high-profile example, having just come off Olympic competition, where the U.S. team finished a disappointing 2-7.

He and his teammates had originally been slated to compete here, but bowed out last week, citing exhaustion. That reasoning has been a bit misunderstood, according to Benton.

“When you say you’re exhausted, people say, ‘Well, geez, it’s been two weeks,’” Benton said. “But it’s not so much physically, it’s that you really have put all your eggs into one basket to go there, and get on the podium at the Olympics. Regardless of our results, I really underestimated the mental toll that was going to take.”

His appearance in Kalamazoo on Saturday was partially to attend some United States Curling Association meetings, and partially to show support for the sport and the event. Plus, he added with a shrug, “All my friends are here.”

Benton remembers well the time he spent on the ice as a kid. Like Gleaton, he tagged along with his parents.

“The Gleaton family and the Benton family were pretty well-established in the St. Paul Curling Club, and they’ve had a Saturday morning junior program for as long as I can remember,” he said. “It was common for all of our families to just kind of bring their kids down on Saturday morning, and that's where you got your start.”

Though he hasn’t seen Gleaton in many years, “It’s very nice to rekindle those friendships. In that sense, curling’s also kind of fraternal in that if you’re a curler, you can pretty much go anywhere that there’s a curling club, and you’ll find friends.”

As Gleaton catches up this week with those he left behind, he can’t help but wonder where he’d be if his family had stayed in St. Paul. He admits that there are feelings of jealousy and regret in having given up the sport for more than 20 years.

“I’m happy (for them), but jealous that you see it, and now the juices get you going, and you want to try and get back into it, but now you realize you’re 40 years old,” he said, laughing. “Life sets in.”